


The Ambition of Halloween

by Hittocere (JadeHittocere)



Series: The Halloween Series [1]
Category: Soul Calibur
Genre: Areias, Backstory to the Counts, Ends up staying in Japan, F/M, Foreigners moving to a new place, Lu Bu reference, Not an Original Story by any means, Prelude to Prince of Halloween, References to Dynasty Warriors, References to Greece lore, Solomon - Freeform, Sophitia the Fair, Story travels from Greece to China to Japan, Suggest me some better tags?, sallah
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-10-06 12:24:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20506973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadeHittocere/pseuds/Hittocere
Summary: The voyage from the Germanic Kingdom has been a long one, especially when her vampire husband is more or less down for the count. Sophitia the Fair and her husband Solomon discover a mistreated young boy from China as they are restocking their supplies at the port near Xia Pi. Lu Bu crashes in at the castle providing the Imperial Prisoner the perfect escape with Sophitia and the recovering Solomon.Prequel/Prelude to the Prince of Halloween.





	1. Ying Long?

**Author's Note:**

> I realized that the beginning of the Prince of Halloween didn't make a whole lot of sense. I'm going to try to simplify it by posting all the pre Samurai X stuff here. And yes, 'Ying Long' is eventually Kenshin, thus why this isn't an original work. Also I'm lazy as hell, Sophitia is directly taken character model from Soul Caliber, she's probably not timid enough, but that should be explained with her supposed 'descendent of Athena' bit.
> 
> Habibi- arabic for my dear, beloved, my darling

The blonde watches out through the window of her cabin as their ship makes its way slowly up the coast of the Asian continent, her bright baby blue eyes locked on the shore as they pass it. She’s been to the mainland before, the last time she had been sent to look for a possible place to put a new temple for Athena almost 200 years ago. She tosses back her long silky hair and frowns turning to look upon her poor husband. Solomon’s trip to the Germanic kingdom had not gone as well as he planned... Her beloved was currently down for the count. 

He had been taken prisoner and locked in the Germanic castle serving as the stronghold for the European counts. When she came knocking, with about 300 Spartans behind her, and her sharpest sword with her spiked shield they cut their way in violently. Solomon had been tied up in the back, blood starved and barely recognizable. Her poor husband had been tortured and beaten, his beautiful hair ripped partially from his skull and his beautiful silk clothes were torn and ripped beyond repair. 

She and her Spartan escorts, armed with the knowledge of exactly what they were up against, cut a bloody path through all of them. She had met Solomon just as the Romans had started conquering the east and been stopped by the Turks. She and her men were stopped by her beloved as they approached the Temple of Solomon, or rather the ruins of temple of Solomon. Her beloved named for the ancient ruler, he outwitted them into a corner and forced them back and out of his country. 

He later sought her out leading a force of 20 men, but only 21 men against the might of Sophitia the Fair, descendent of the great Olympian Athena? It was a rather one sided fight, she dispatched his men with a grace befitting the great goddess, holding the rather impressed Turk at sword point. Needless to say Solomon had been much more impressed with her the second time. Sophitia sent him running back to his fancy baths and hanging plants with his tail between his legs, and she did so again when he returned with more men. The descendent of the Goddess of battle and wisdom was not to be underestimated. 

Solomon came back a third time, but the last time he came back with only a simple gold ring. Solomon had tested her, and he had been impressed by her in more ways than one. The Grecian beauty had stolen his heart at first sight, but his mind had taken quite sometime to follow suit. She effortless repelled his assaults, but made no progress when trying against him to invade his homeland. 

She had not accepted his ring then, she was too important to be married off to some man she barely knew or understood. Solomon pursued her for another 200 years before she said yes, but that was only because he was such a charming individual. That and a silver tongued snake. 

Yet here her darling Solomon was bedridden for the rest of their trip to the Orient. The European council of Vampires had decided to turn on her beloved, so they had been cast out to find new shelter in the East. Taking a one of the Vientian ships had been the easiest solution at the time. Their crew were all human, a few Turkish men of Solomon’s had joined them as well. His vassals had been kind enough to help him recover while she protected the ship, as descendent of Athena she was protected from the harsh rays of the sun that would turn her beloved to mere ash were he to be exposed. 

He was far paler than he should be, but a lot of his color had returned over the last few weeks. They had only stopped to acquire more food and blood for the two of them. They were scheduled to stop off in a major Oriental region that had been barely been written of when they first met, now it was known as the origin of the Silk Road, China. As they slowly made their way North she could see the foreign coastline looming to the west before it settled into a more reasonable port. 

The dropped anchor far enough away that they could rest while the crew could restock for the final leg of their journey. A fairly large island to the east, isolated from troubles of the west. A few of the sailors were familiar enough with the area that they were able to get supplies. She was on watch when she spotted the odd child tripping dazed down the shoreline. 

She signaled for a man to take her place as she approached the small child, he looked to be no more than 6, his stark white hair making him stand out even in the dark. She brushed the hair away to see terrified amber eyes looking at her. She knelt down so that he was at eye level with him and offered a kind smile. 

“Sophitia,” she says slowly gesturing at herself. 

“So-pee-tee-ah,” he repeats slowly gesturing at her, she chuckles and nods. 

“So-phi-ti-ah,” she says once more, still just as slowly. He nods with a nervous expression, and says something in his native tongue. 

“Sophi-tia,” he says pointing at her, then gestures to himself, “Ying Long.” He says slowly as his eyes fade to an amethyst color, and Sophitia nods with a smile. 

“Ying Long,” she repeats and he nods with a smile. She offers him a hand, which he looks at strangely for a moment before accepting. She takes him to the boat where she introduces him to Solomon, who looks at him curiously before the boy collapses next to the both of them. 

“The boy appears to be running from someone Habibi,” Solomon whispers brushing his hair away. 

“I agree dear, but he’s just a child. If we can help him I think that we should,” she whispers hauling the small child up and setting him into her cot. “I need to get back out on watch, I cannot risk anyone reaching you Solomon.” 

“I appreciate that Soph, but getting both of us there safely should be the priority,” Solomon replies swinging up onto his feet for the moment, “be safe Habibi.” 

“Always,” she nods, “may the Gods favor our journey.” 

* * *

The boy hides in their cabin the entire time the ship is docked, and Sophitia can see why as the natives start to stir. Their armies are searching the mainland, and her men request her presence with them almost immediately. She tells Solomon who blocks the door to their quarters and stations his best men around the cabin. They tell little Ying Long to remain with him, he doesn’t understand, he just hides in the closet when they gesture outside at the trouble on the mainland. All of the calm in those amethyst eyes fades to cold amber. He waves his hand and both of them feel the powerful barrier that’s thrown up around the ship. 

She nods and heads for the mainland. There are men in blue armor searching the town, and her men stand at the docks waiting for her with one of their men. His stance is as arrogant as they come, but his expression is calm. She approaches with her head held high and her eyes focused on the foreigner. One of her men speaks the native tongue, and introduces her. She nods politely as she hears her name, he looks at her analyzing her up and down. 

He speaks with a higher pitch than she would have guessed, there’s a certain cleverness in her eyes that reminds her of her beloved Solomon. She doesn’t trust a word this man says. Her officer translates the man’s words, and gives her a look that says much the same as she thinks, this man is a snake, probably worse than King Midas in his treachery. 

“What does he want?” she asks raising a carefully sculpted eyebrow and watching the other man. 

“They are from the northern kingdom here, they are looking for a small child that is on the run from the authorities. The Imperial court is offering a handsome sum should he be found and unharmed,” the officer responds. There’s a look of distaste on his features, the man probably was rather rude about it. 

“What is the description of this child?” she asks tilting her head curiously. Her man looks surprised, but repeats the question. The man waves forward an armored man, who brings a scroll with brushed likeness on it, even in black and white it looks like Ying Long. She looks at it carefully, she cannot make out anything else from the image besides the utter despair, “I have not seen this child. The only child on board is Solomon who is refuses to eat his vegetables He claims that the heretic things will not in fact make him strong like Hercules.” Her warriors laugh, and the translator responds back. The snake man lets out a chuckle as he hears it. He nods and walks away waving off his men as they walk away. 

“Do not let them near my ship, but if they ask for help looking for the child assist them. We do not want or need any trouble from them while Solomon is recovering,” she instructs, “I will be with Solomon for the time being. If we get anyone else that’s fluent send them to me, but warn them we will not be coming back.” 

“Yes my lady,” her men salute her before she turns on her heel. 

“Ma’am,” one of her men follows her back to their galleon, “I do speak some Chinese. Why were you in need of a translator?” They are out onto the water before she answers him, keeping her eyes peeled on the coast. 

“The child on that poster was abused, you could see it in the way his likeness was captured. That and he’s on my ship,” she looks the man in the eye, “he called himself Ying Long, what does that mean?” 

“Ying Long? I am unsure, but Long represents dragons in this culture my lady,” he confesses, “the subtle nuances of their language escape me. If you want to know more about that you’d need to ask him.” 

“Ying Long doesn’t seem to speak Greek or Arabic,” she sighs, “lets speak with Solomon, he picks up other languages far quicker than I do. Don’t you dare tell him I said that.” 

“Of course not Lady Sophitia,” he chuckles. After a moment they’re small skiff they’re riding in reaches the where they’ve parked the galleon. It takes a moment for them to climb up onto the galleon, when they reach the top the boy is sitting there watching them. He has a pleased expression, before knocking on the door to Solomon’s cabin. 

“So-phi-ah,” he says missing some of her name again. She nods with a smile. 

“Sophitia,” she nods, “Ying Long, this is Areias.” She signals to the man that’s road back with her, she watches as the boy turns to the newcomer with a stern look. It looks... protective, and he’s between the door to Solomon and her officer. 

Her officer looks less than concerned as he speaks to the boy, his Chinese is not nearly as fluent as Solomon’s officer that’s still on the main land. The boy however responds, and slowly as he explains something. His eyes gleam looking back and forth between the two of them. 

“He approached you because you aren’t what you seem he says,” Areias responds when the boy pauses gesturing to her, “that you are safe. He wants to go with us, away from here. I should also tell you he’s really dumbing this down for me. The dialect he speaks is very ** very ** old in comparison to the men on the shore.” 

“Is he simplifying it because he knows we can barely understand or because he thinks you’re an idiot?” Sophitia asks. He turns to the boy with his cheeks flushed red, and says something. The boy laughs lightly, his eyes relaxing a little at her joke, he responds with a chuckle to his tone. 

“He says its because he knows this isn’t my native tongue,” Areias lets out a sigh of relief, “he says thank you for turning away the Imperial forces. He also says don’t trust them, they will do anything to get what they want. Including kill whomever gets in their way.” 

“Sounds like any governing force to be honest,” she responds. Areias repeats what she said, and the kid lets out a good chuckle. He nods, and says something against slowly, his eyes trained on Areias as he repeats something twice since Areias shakes his head with a frown saying something. 

“I can’t understand what he’s saying, or rather it doesn’t make sense,” Areias says as the boy is saying something under his breath, almost like he’s trying to think in circles. He claps his hands together, and says something excitedly. 

“Sol-eh-man,” he points, then he wobbles back in forth. He says something slowly to Areias who nods in understanding. 

“He gave Solomon something because he is unwell,” Areias responds, he puts a finger to his pulse point, tapping it, “he gave him blood. If I’m understanding him correctly he knows that you aren’t... what is the word he’s looking for... I can’t tell if its human or normal.” 

“Solomon is a vampire, that’s what he’s talking about,” Sophitia says frowning, “but what would his blood do to Solomon?” Areias attempts to explain that to the boy who just tilts his with a confused expression. Shaking his head and pointing at himself. He repeats his name slowly rolling his eyes at Areias. He frowns saying something to him before gesturing at him for something to write with. 

“I still don’t understand what he’s trying to tell you, Sallah might though,” Areias throws up his hands in confusion. 

“Areias, he wants something to write with. I think he’s going to draw us what he means,” Sophitia chuckles clasping his shoulder, “unfortunately all we have papyrus wise is in use. The rest of its Solomon’s scrolls, and he won’t take to kindly to us inking them up.” Areias nods repeating her message, the boy frowns, but he nods in understanding. The boy looks to Areias with a frown and says something slowly, to which Areias nods back. 

“He’ll do as best he can without paper then,” Areias says following as the boy gestures for them to follow him into the cabin. Solomon is sitting up reading when they enter, looking decidedly less pale. 

“Habibi, Areias, ah greetings Ying Long,” Solomon says pushing aside his work for the moment. 

“Ying Long says he helped you, gave you some of his blood?” Sophitia asks looking at her beloved. 

“Yes, the boy gave me some of his blood right after you left. I no longer feel blood starved Habibi, its like opium without all the adverse side effects,” Solomon says standing easily for the first time since she collected him from the Germanic kingdom. 

“And here I thought you were the cautious one beloved,” Sophitia chuckles, “but I am glad to see you are well.” 

“If not for Ying Long I would not be, the boy is however not human,” Solomon points out with a smile, “Areias, could you get the young man some food? He must be starving, being on the run like he is...” 

“Yes, the mainlanders seem to be looking for him, but I don’t like the looks of them Solomon. The man I met earlier... He rubs me the wrong way, the ancestors probably would have challenged them to a fight on the spot,” Sophitia says rubbing her biceps with a frown, “I’d sooner trek to Tartarus and speak with Hades.” Her beloved chuckles and Ying Long goes to sit on her cot with a soft smile. He seems happy, as her and Solomon go over what they’ve seen. The boy glances over at Solomon’s scrolls of notes, he starts to trace over the letters, going from right to left just as Solomon does. 

“Can he read Yiddish?” she asks watching him. Solomon shakes his head no as he watches the boy trace the letters carefully. 

“I doubt it, but he looks to be studying the characters of it. He’d probably have an easier time with your own tongue given its simplicity,” Solomon says watching him trace the letters carefully, “though... he is reading it right to left, I would say he’s literate if nothing else. Is there native tongue from right to left as well or left to right like your own?” 

“You’d have to ask Areias, he’s the one who can speak Chinese,” Sophitia shrugs. 

“Have you heard him speak Chinese yet?” Solomon laughs and looks over at Ying Long sympathetically “I feel bad for Ying Long to have to deal with it.” 

“So do I, having watched it first hand,” she nods, “Ying Long however seemed to understand it.” 

“He’s far older than he appears to be Habibi, you can see it in the way he hides. The way he watches us, the way he throws up a magical barrier like its absolutely nothing to him,” he smiles knowingly towards the child. Ying Long is absorbed in the texts moving his finger carefully along, “although if I don’t watch it he might pick up languages faster than I do.” 

“I think he already is, once Sallah returns we shall start with teaching him one to communicate to with us more directly,” Sophitia nods watching the boy as well, “he’s clever, he figured out you aren’t human on his own.” 

“He’s not human either, it wasn’t much for him to figure out,” Solomon says rubbing her shoulder, “I don’t know what he is, but he’s more powerful than those air headed counts we just left. He doesn’t even appear to be combat trained yet.” As they continue to discuss the boy Areias returns with food for him, the boy looks as it confused before Sophitia grabs one of the offered Gyros and starts eating one. He offers her an appreciative smile before copying her motions. You don’t have to speak another language to know that whatever sound he’s just made is a sound of appreciation. Areias says something to the boy who chuckles, the boy responds with something cheekily. 

“He says he recognizes the fonts here, that travelers once brought it the... capital?” Areias pauses and checks with the kid who nods, “he says its familiar, how far west are you from?” 

“Tell him Areias, but we will wait for Sallah for the details,” Solomon nods, “also, tell him thank you for what he did earlier for me.” 

“You can do that yourself Solomon, just say she-eh she-eh. I had to learn that word pretty early on,” Areias responds with a sheepish look. The kid looks from him to Solomon with a bewildered face. Her beloved Solomon places a hand in his fist and bows respectfully. 

“Xie xie,” Solomon repeats, the child nods and responds with something he doesn’t understand through words, but the tone is easy enough to recognize. What the kid said sounds like: Boku-e-chi. 

“Your welcome,” Areias translates. 

“Tell Sallah to report in as soon as he’s able to. I’d like to be able to speak with Ying Long,” Solomon looks at Ying Long, “You’ll need to remain here. Habibi says that those men are combing the shoreline for you.” 

“Sir?” Areias asks before he starts to translate, “how exactly do you expect me to translate Habibi?” 

“Ying Long?” he leans down looking at the boy, who nods with a raised eyebrow, “my Habibi.” He points to Sophitia who approaches and drapes her arms around him in response. He kisses her gently when her face is placed within range. 

“Habibi?” it’s not as graceful as his name, but he recognizes the word, “Soh-pi-ti-ah.” He points at her enunciating each syllable carefully. 

“Yes, Sophitia,” she nods, “Solomon’s Habibi.” 

“Sol-oh-mon-su ha-bee-bee?” Ying Long repeats, they both nod. He turns and says something to Areias, they both hear their names and the word Habibi. Areias spends a couple minutes attempting to explain it before they hear Sallah’s name mentioned. 

“Putting it all on Sallah already? He’ll be thrilled Areias,” Solomon chuckles. Areias waves him off and continues attempting to explain things. Ying Long ends up laughing at him, and Sophitia ends up laughing as well. 

“He says he doesn’t plan on leaving the boat, he does not want to go back. Ever,” Areias responds giving them the much shorter version of his speech. The boy nods, and turns to settle into the cot Sophitia directed him to the first time. 

“Then he doesn’t have to,” Solomon says looking over to her with a soft expression, “children should not be drug into the political affairs of adults.” 

“I agree, Perseus and Medusa would also agree with that statement,” she nods watching as the boy falls into an uneasy sleep, “he can stay with us.” 

* * *

Sophitia has only rested when her beloved takes the night watch, so for three long days they resupply, and the mainlanders continue their search. There’s a ruckus on the mainland on the final night, and Sallah has evacuated their troops from the town back to the galleon. The boy is standing directly behind her cloaked as they return. Sallah takes one look at him then at Solomon. 

“The men of Wei that have been guarding the castle of Xia Pi were just ousted by a demon, or so they say. They can no longer focus on finding the child, they instead have to go deal with the forces that just took over the castle,” Sallah announces staring at the child. The boy asks him something, to which he nods, and quite possibly repeats his message. The boy chuckles and responds with something that Sallah seems to easily understand. 

“What did Ying Long tell you?” Sophitia asks watching the exchange for any signs of discomfort on either side. 

“That the demon is not a demon, but a ruthless man who has trained for a long time. He is called Lu Bu and we would be wise not to interfere with the fine distraction he’s causing,” Sallah answers looking puzzled, “he calls himself Ying Long?” He speaks to the boy for a moment, who then shakes his head and says something none but Sallah and perhaps Areias can understand. 

“I believe I understand, the boy was a prisoner of the Imperial court. The man those forces were chasing was part of a force that wishes to overthrow the current Emperor and his family. The boy says that a kind woman that was with him released him while she was there, the man Lu Bu is a friend of hers,” Sallah explains, the boy speaks again and then waits for Sallah to finish filling them in, “he says that the Han was destined to die anyways and to pay it no mind. This will be a perfect opportunity for us to slip away unnoticed. The man who leads those forces is not a man easily tricked, if he discovers that this young man is onboard he will attack us to take him back to the Imperial Court again. Whether its in shambles or not.” 

“Then I suggest we get going, we are ready to set sail are we not?” Sophitia says glancing to their men, “then let us head for our final destination.” 

“Agreed, and may the prophet leave them with a wonderous distraction while we take our steps across the parted sea,” Solomon nods, “Sallah, can you teach him to speak with us?” 

“I can, he’s already picked up a lot just from listening to you,” Sallah nods, “he’s been held prisoner at the Imperial Court for a long time Lord Solomon, he’s had little more to do than read and learn new things for a very long time.” 

“That is most excellent news Sallah, it would appear that God favors our mission,” Solomon smiles, “if you could properly thank him for saving me I would be most appreciative.” 

“Yes my Lord,” Sallah says with a chuckle. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sallah is named from Indiana Jones, and Solomon seems obvious enough I don't have to say anything. I don't know how much more will be added to this work. I suppose I will add to it as necessary for plot for the Prince of Halloween.
> 
> Oh for Pete's sake, I'm not going to keep switching languages on everyone. The only non English word that should be appearing is Habibi, and that is from Solomon. He's calling Sophitia his beloved in Arabic, which considering I'm making him Turkish instead of a German named Felix should work nicely. The only other word that might appear is Habibti which is essentially beloved child. I swear anything else will be explained in context or made fun of in context. Like Xie Xie (thank you in Chinese), I am not a linguist, I'm just over here pretending to be an author, don't mind me. Sorry for the weird jumps, let me know what you think!
> 
> I don't know why I decided to do this to myself, hopefully those reading Prince of Halloween can suggest better tags later.


	2. Food or Fungi?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From Ying Long's perspective

He’s been running for as long as he can remember, so when he stumble upon the strange blond foreigner he decides its worth taking the chance to escape. Especially when he catches the odd inhuman scent that clings to her, when she takes him on the large sailing ship that’s as foreign as she is he sees the sick man. He doesn’t smell human either, and for the first time in longer than he can remember he feels safe. 

Non humans mean that they have no allegiance to humanity, which means they won’t take him back to the Imperial Court. Sleep comes to him surprisingly easy, but he’s startled away by the bone deep coughing across from him. The tanned man with curly black hair sits up, and heaves. There’s a horrible sickness to his scent, and he frowns, this non-human will die if he doesn’t do something. He looks for a cup or anything he can fill. There’s a strange metal goblet, and he can smell human blood in it. 

He hands it to the sick man who takes it with a thankful expression, but the lingering scent of sickness still clings to him. He scowls at the smell taking back the goblet from shaking hands. He can’t see any weapons, so he takes the letter opener sitting on the man’s desk and slices his arm letting the fresh blood collect in the empty goblet. The man looks startled at him, but he’s too ill to stop him. Whatever aliment this man has he’s been hiding from the nice blonde lady for a long while, and it has taken a deep hold on him. 

He waits for the glass to fill to halfway before he hands it to the man, he tells him to drink, but the man probably doesn’t understand. He says something in a foreign tongue, but his eyes speak of gratefulness. He tears up a piece of his shirt and wraps it around the gash on his arm. The bleeding stops almost immediately, and he watches the non-human who finishes the goblet setting down on the floor carefully. As he goes to pull his arm back up into the bed he slumps. 

He checks the man carefully, merely asleep he concludes after listening to the evening breaths. He sneaks out for a moment to properly clean his wound, one of the foreigners rebandages his arm with clean cloth and a horribly stinky paste. He takes his place back on the cot the nice woman had given him, and sleeps. When he awakens next she’s returning, he can feel the brightness of her presence, it reminds him of the stories of the old gods. 

Sophitia, that was what she called herself, and so he thought for a second of a name that he would want. He had no intentions of going back to his old one, and the name Ying Long from the legends of old stuck with him. He called himself that and attempted to pronounce her name again. It was extremely hard to say, he kept missing pieces of it, the man however his name wasn’t so hard. Solomon, it was fairly simple, and he was happy to remain hidden in the cabin as they restocked. 

The blonde woman that glowed bright like the sun, Sophitia, she treated him kindly. More so than the palace guards had ever done. She didn’t really make the attempt to talk to him, but he could hear the kindness in her tone when she spoke to him, and the clear cut tones when she spoke to her men. It was still equally kind, but not as obvious. Solomon, the man she smelled so much of appeared to be her friend, as she checked on him a lot. 

Then he met the other man Areias on one of her trips back, he spoke some of the new dialect. At first he thought he was a problem so he moved to protect the non-human he was watching over. After a moment, and a bumbled introduction on the other man’s part he realized that this Areias was one of Sophitia’s men. 

It was humorous to hear the small mistakes as he spoke, but it was easy enough to guide him through to what he actually meant. The woman was named Sophitia the Pale, or was it the Fair? The poor man didn’t really understand the subtle undertones enough, but it was better than nothing. They had come from far away, a place he called the Germanic fiefdom, probably kingdom if he had to guess. 

The man Solomon had been badly hurt before he could leave, which he’d already figured out which spared them a lot of messed up translating. That they were only going to be there for a short while, which was also said wrong, but he assumed he meant days not hours anyways since it had already been a day since he had been brought aboard. Sophitia would say something, and the man would attempt to explain what she said. It was more often than not a butchery of the new dialect, but enough pieces were there he could figure out what he was saying. 

She didn’t ask any questions about his past or why he was running, in fact she looked quite sad when she spoke to the other man to talk to him. When she told him to ask whether it was because Areias was having troubles or just an idiot he couldn’t help the belly laugh when he understood the message. He was kind enough to tell Areias it was because he could tell he was having issues translating, but it certainly made him chuckle. 

He thanks her for turning away the Imperial forces, and tells her not to trust them. To which they're not so good translator manages, he also gets a good chuckle at the response about governing bodies. Even if part of it was lost in translation he figures out what she meant. He tries to explain that he healed Solomon, but Areias doesn’t know the words needed to understand it. 

“Sol-eh-man,” he says showing how the man was shaking but leaving out the coughing. The other man finally clues in, and tries to finish explaining that he gave him his blood. The other man says he doesn’t understand, which clearly he doesn’t, it’s a difficult concept that has nothing to do with war or trading so of course he doesn’t know the right words. He repeats the name he gave them, and realizes the man hasn’t come to the conclusion about who or what Ying Long is yet. 

He looks to Sophitia, who even with his loose gestures has understood better than this poor man that can speak his tongue. He makes a motion for paper and writing, she says something to Areias to which he confirms his request, he nods. Before the man can go off to look, but she frowns saying something else. They enter the cabin, and Solomon looks up at all of them from his desk. All of the paper around has the foreign tongue on it, but it doesn’t look like it’s the one that the blonde speaks as she doesn’t glance at it the same way that Solomon does. 

He realizes after a moment that Solomon and Sophitia are not friends, there is far more to it than that. Probably lovers if he had to guess, and the strange word he uses... Ha bee bee, it sounds... familiar, but he can’t place it right now. He watches as Solomon stands, and smiles as he embraces the shiny woman that reminds him of the old gods. Areias has left to fetch him something, he thinks he meant food not fungus, but he’ll see when he returns. 

He looks over the strange paper, it feels heavier than normal to him. The characters look vaguely familiar, he’s seen them before, but he’s never had enough of a chance to study them. He glances up to see them staring at him curiously as he runs a finger carefully over the ink staining the page. It’s not random, there are patterns there, but he would need more time to figure it out. Perhaps he can ask them to teach him to read it? 

He smells the food before he sees it, it smells heavenly, but it looks so strange. They do not have chopsticks, and he waits hoping one of them will take pity on him. Sophitia noticing his plight carefully grabs one rolling the strange mat it's on so the inside does fall and takes a bite. He copies her motion carefully, and takes a bite of the strange food. It doesn’t taste like anything he’s ever had, there are strange red squishy sections, a meat he’s never tasted before, a sort of white creamy substance that’s got an odd flavor. None of that matters however, because it tastes heavenly. 

The others laugh at satisfied noise he makes, but he can’t bother to be upset about it seeing as it tastes so good. They spend time talking about the scripts, but Areias isn’t proficient enough in his tongue to fully translate his meanings. He’ll have to wait for this other man Sallah, who supposedly is a much better speaker, which he certainly hopes so because this is ridiculous. 

* * *

Sallah is a large man, who’s built like some of the warriors he’s seen as he worked his way East. He’s also very jolly which is horrifying in its own way for him. He prefers the quiet presence of Solomon or the blinding presence of Sophitia. Sallah however speaks fluent Chinese, and Ying Long couldn’t be happier. The ship leaves the eastern coast, and he settles in across from Sallah and Solomon in the main cabin. Solomon learns Chinese as he learns the language that most of the crew has been speaking.

It takes him almost a week to understand how to speak it, but he understands most of what they’re speaking now, there’s a few words every now and then that he doesn’t understand though. He sees Sophitia out on the bridge, and he watches through the fog as the island nation they were looking for comes into view.

“Where is this?” he asks in probably  very broken Greek.

“We’ll find out when we get there,”  Sophitia says turning to see him, “Ying Long, you certainly took up Greek quickly.”

“Not quick enough,” he says eyeing Areias who looks vaguely embarrassed below as Sallah continues working with him and Solomon.

“Is Areias’ Chinese that bad?” she laughs from beside him.

“ Its much worse than his Greek that much is for certain, also the dialect both he and Sallah speak is much more modern than the variant I know,” Ying Long answers, “when do we land?”

“Once Rashad finds a safe point to land, most of the upper coastland was rocky last I saw,”  Sophitia says bringing a hand to her chin, “no more than a few days max.”

“That’s fine,” he sighs leaning against the rail, “thank you for taking me away from there.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” the blonde asks looking at him cautiously, “the painted images of you look distressed.”

“I was held prison by the Imperial court for rescuing a member of the Imperial family. I was held captive long enough for the dialect to significantly change around me. Captive and stuck in an area no bigger than the upper deck of this ship for centuries,” he explains flatly, “how would you have expected me to look?”

“Horrified, or dead,” she shrugs her shoulders, “most beings your age don’t still look like a child.”

“ I do not know what to tell you,” he says quietly scanning the shoreline, “as I don’t feel like either. Adults usually know how to handle situations, and children generally are taunt how to handle situations by adults. People they trust, people that will show them how the world works.”

“I get the feeling you haven’t seen enough of the world to really know how anything works at all. Besides being held prisoner that is,”  Sophitia lays a hand over his shoulder and pulls him into her side, “I know it might not mean much, but you can trust Solomon and I with showing you this world and what it has to offer. I know we’ll make mistakes along the way, but that’s sometimes the way  it goes.”

“I’d appreciate that,” Ying Long responds leaning against her, his tiny form barely reaching her hip.

“Lady  Sophitia !” Areias comes running, he smiles when he sees her and Ying Long, “Rashad has spotted a good place to dock the ship. Its isolated, do the two of you wish to scout the area?”

“What do you say Ying Long? Do you wish to scout out a place for our new home with me?” she asks with an amused expression.

“Yes,” he chuckles from beside her, “as long as I don’t have to listen to Areias butcher my native tongue anymore.”

* * *

They end up leaving Sallah and Solomon on the galleon to prepare for the actual landing.  Sophitia , Areias, and he spend hours searching and eventually settle on a location up on a bluff that overlooks the port area. The natives stay back and out of their way, they sense that the danger that flows off  Sophitia and head the opposite direction. He looks around, the area is bright and he has no idea how they are going to build anything up on the top of the bluff, but he trusts that  Sophitia and her men know how to build.

“We need to see what type of construction the natives are using, we don’t want to stand out that much,”  Sophitia says turning to Areias, “take a few men and scout out the area, once you’ve found something report back. Ying Long and I will look into what resources we have before heading back to report to Solomon.”

“Yes Ma’am,” Areias salutes before running off.

“Resources?” Ying Long asks curiously.

“Food, building materials, areas to farm,” she explains taking him through the tree line. Dawn is starting to peak over the horizon when they start to run into the locals. They approach her first, and Ying Long watches as things start to go south for the beautiful blonde woman. She pulls her sword and swings her shield up off her back onto her forearm.  Sophitia the Fair, descendent of the great goddess Athena is afraid of no battle. She charges through cutting them a bloody path through the forest towards a source for water they had spotted earlier. 

One of the locals, also not human attempts to grab him from behind and Ying Long jumps away thrusting his hands towards the creature throwing up a  one sided barrier. All of them startle at the magic, Ying Long uses the confusion to get to  Sophitia’s back. She nods and spins the sword in her hand waiting for them to press the attack. Instead they vanish into the what’s left of the darkness, and  Sophitia sheathes her sword gesturing for him to follow her forwards.

“What is it you use to create that barrier?”  Sophitia asks checking out the water, “it can’t be easy on you to keep throwing those up.”

“I do not  know, I have always considered it to be the protection of the ancestors. Ripple scales thrown up between those who would harm me and those I wish to protect,” he responds pulling back the barrier to line his skin like smooth glowing scales.  Sophitia runs a finger over the barrier, and her face contorts into one of concentration.

“It feels like rippling water,” she says before pulling her hand back, “we should head back to the others soon. Solomon can’t fight in the sunlight.”

“I never did ask, what is he? I know neither of you are human,” Ying Long points out as she washes the blood off her quickly.

“Solomon is a vampire, and I am the descendent of the great Olympian Athena,”  Sophitia responds, at his confused face she chuckles, “I often forget that those of the Orient know nothing of the Olympians that I grew up with. Even Solomon knew of them when we met... The  Olympians are the gods that reign over Greece and the Western world. They are fair and just, well most of them.” She shakes her head, a feeling of homesickness settling in for a moment.

“Most of them?” Ying Long questions.

“Zeus, who rules over the Olympians is not the most faithful of husbands. His wife, the Olympian Hera is often jealous and punishes those who he ends up involved with,”  Sophitia warns taking them back into woods towards their ship, “Another Olympian I would advise staying clear of is Hades, the lord of the Underworld. He is fond of trickery, and his wife Persephone cannot always save those who wander freely into his realm.”

“Your Olympians remind me of the tales of the Mystics of old. The siblings Nu  Wa and Fu Xi, the trickster Sun  Wukong , and the legendary heroes. Like Ying Long who fought beside them to protect the Heavenly Emperor against the forces of Da Ji and her Lord  Orochi ,” he says following along behind her.

“Who was Ying Long, and why name yourself after him?”  Sophitia offers him a hand down a steep embankment.

“Ying Long is considered a force of protection and good, he is well known  through out China as a servant to the Imperial family. The dragon that guards the Imperial family, and  its said that the Imperial family line comes from the heavens itself, thus the name heavenly emperor. That being said I thought the name was appropriate for the captive that served to keep the royal family alive,” he answers bitterly, “I have no intentions of keeping that name once we settle in. I just needed a name and it fit at the time.”

“You are an honorable boy Ying Long, I’m sure you’ll find a name you like later,” she says with a sad smile, “I am sorry we couldn’t have rescued you sooner.”

“If not for the turmoil going on from the Yellow Turbans no one would have gotten the chance,” he sighs, “no one outside of the Imperial family has known of my existence until my escape. I’ve been on the run for several years now, and that toadstool that took over the Imperial Court is probably the best thing that could have happened to ensure my escape.”

“Years?”  Sophitia questions.

“I escaped during the Yellow Turban rebellion, one of my... friends brought me a  disguise . There was a young sorcerer that stumbled across me in the palace and after a few days he was able to break the magical seal that trapped me in there. I fled south first, as I do not know how to fight, then I headed east towards the lands of Jiang Dong, but I must confess I got rather lost along the way.”

“That will happen when one is attempting to evade their pursuers,”  Sophitia nods in understanding, “you got lost and ended up at the port where you found us.”

“Exactly,” Ying Long nods, his shaggy white hair going every which way, “I couldn’t exactly plan anything as I hadn’t left the palace in centuries. I had no idea where to go, I was estranged from everyone by my appearance alone.”

“You mean your child like appearance?” she asks.

“Actually no,  its more to do with my hair and eyes,” he sighs, “my people, or rather the people are suspicious of anyone who is so vastly different. My hair turned white just before I was trapped in that gilded cage, it marks me as different there. I saw advisors with it, from time to time, but never anyone my size.”

“Yes, white hair is generally a sign of significant age,” she nods, “I can see why that would be confusing to you who doesn’t age.”

“Then I saw you, with your foreign looks and inhuman smell. I knew you wouldn’t judge me for some reason, and when you took me with you it was the first  time I’d actually felt safe since I left that cage,” he confesses.

“Of course, you are but a child, you shouldn’t be expected to be kept inside like that,” she says wrapping him in a hug for a moment before they bust back down into the bay area where their ship is parked. 

“I appreciate that more than you know,” he whispers following her down to the skiff

“You have my word that no treat you like that when you are with us,”  Sophitia smiles war mly as they settle in, “how would you like to be my son from now on Ying Long? I’m sure Solomon will feel the same way.”

“Really?” he reaches across and snuggles into the warm presence offered to him.

“Really,” she says with a chuckle patting his hair, “but for now we need to get back to Solomon. Perhaps he’ll have a plan on how to set up our new home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, now that more of that's settled time to go fix the beginning of Prince.


End file.
